Micaela Cronin says domestic violence should be taken as seriously as terrorism

The woman tasked with ending violence against women and children in this generation says it needs to be taken as seriously as terrorism.

The commissioner tasked with ending violence against women and children in one generation says domestic violence should be treated with the same significance as terrorism, with extra resources deployed to protect victims.

The conversation comes after the UK Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said extreme misogyny should be listed as a form of terrorism and law enforcement should monitor suspected offenders.

In her address to the National Press Club on Wednesday, Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence Commissioner Micaela Cronin said while the offences were not the same, they should be treated with the same degree of seriousness.

“We need to be using all of the tools that are available to us that we use for terrorism,” she said, sharing examples like monitoring social media and using surveillance to track the purchases of suspected terrorists.

“I think that what we need is for the community to take as seriously threats of domestic, family and sexual violence as they take terrorist threats, act on them as urgently and recognise that they are different.”

Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence Commissioner Micaela Cronin said threats of domestic violence should be acted on urgently. Picture: NewsWire/ Martin Ollman

Using the example of the death of 28-year-old NSW woman Molly Ticehurst, who was allegedly murdered by her ex-partner Daniel Billings, Ms Cronin said there were monitoring tools that may have prevented her death.

Ms Cronin referenced police allegations that Mr Billings had killed her 12-week-old dachshund puppy in the months before her death.

Prior to Ms Ticehurt’s death, Mr Billings had been charged with raping her, three separate accounts of intimidation, wilfully damaging her property and aggravated cruelty against the puppy.

“If we took the tools that we have to the risk assessment about (how) her puppy was killed … if we were watching that the way we watch people who are labelled as terrorists in our communities, then she might still be alive today,” Ms Cronin said.

Ms Cronin acknowledged the death of Molly Ticehurst, who was allegedly murdered by her ex-boyfriend in April. Picture: Facebook

Ms Cronin’s speech comes as the commissioner tabled the first report card into the 10-year National Plan to End Violence Against Women and Children.

The report will highlight the need to help resource-strapped and overwhelmed services and systems, plus call for the government to ensure men are engaged in every aspect of ending violence, including efforts to redefine masculinity.

This includes more trauma-informed intervention options for men who either use violence or are at risk of using violence.

She said we should use all the tools available to us to prevent domestic violence. Picture: NewsWire/ Martin Ollman

It will also call for national leadership into boosting the capability of the many sectors that tackle addressing domestic, family and sexual violence while highlighting the need to prioritise specialist services

On Wednesday morning, Assistant Minister for the Prevention of Family Violence Justine Elliot, who previously worked as a police officer said the report showed there were “no quick fixes to the crisis.

“For some women … once they get home and lock the door’, they still aren’t safe. For too many women, home is the most dangerous place,” she said in a speech made to parliament.

“You see … the life of a woman is different.

“We’ve had to see, think and act differently throughout our entire lives – out of fear of violence. Fear of violence should not be a normal nor accepted part of womanhood.”

Assistant Minister for the Prevention of Family Violence Justine Elliot says women act differently because of a fear of violence. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Sussan Ley said the opposition would work with the government to ‘combat the scourge of domestic violence’. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

In her reply speech, the opposition spokeswoman for women Sussan Ley committed to “working collaboratively” with the government to “combat the scourge of domestic violence in Australia”.

“Thirty-five women have already been killed this year from family and domestic violence, with another 17 women killed by male perpetrators. At least 55 children had been left without their mother,” she said.

Calling on the parliament to “confront this issue with the fierce urgency we would if it was happening right here in this chamber”, she said the existing data revealed Australia was not on track, with reports of family and domestic violence incidents increasing by 16 per cent.

“We are seeing progress, but we are also seeing a regression,” she said, listing the impact of social media influencers who “pedal” misogyny and gender stereotypes.

“We risk a regression as social media companies profit off algorithms that are conditioning our kids with toxic views.

“We risk a regression as violent pornography and concerning practices like choking are normalised and damaging the brains of our next generation.”